Using psychiatry, psychology, and education to promote mental health and human development

GettingStarted

When you’re loooking for help with mental health

Getting the help you need is not always easy. A number of hurdles are caused by the mental health profession—you shouldn’t blame yourself if you have “given up” trying to get help for you or your family. But, we’re trying something new. The Venn Center is about educating and empowering you. To do this, we want you to know what you can expect when you contact us. It is our hope that this transparency will allow you to set your expectations; contact us to get the help you want.

This is how it goes:

Step 1: Contact the Venn Center

You make the initial phone call (201-444-6824), or email us (contact@venncenter.com). We will take your call if we have sufficient time to do an Initial Consultation (15-20 minutes). If we do not answer your call, that is because we want to devote the necessary time to you. Please leave your name, contact information, and a brief reason for your phone call. Within 24 hours of contacting us, we will call you for Step 2, the Initial Consultation.

Prior to speaking with us, feel free to look at the Initial Consultation Form, this is the information we’ll discuss when we speak. Information we discuss on the phone is confidential.

Feel free to consult our website to get a sense of the services we offer and, if they arise, jot down questions that you have for us so that we can answer them when we have the Initial Consultation. The FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section of the website may be particularly helpful to you as a first-time caller.

Step 2: Initial Consultation

After you contact us, an Initial Consultation will take place within 24 hours.

The Initial Consultation is an information exchange—we ask questions, you ask questions; we give answers, you give answers. We ask everyone the same general questions (Initial Consultation Form). We may also ask additional questions to learn more; our objective is to determine the best next steps for you.

The Initial Consultation usually lasts from 15 to 20 minutes depending on what we need to talk about. The Initial Consultation is free.

During the Initial Consultation, we may schedule you for step 3, The Intake Conference. At this time you will agree upon a date and time, and you will be told the name of the clinician with whom you will meet. You will also be informed of the fee for the Intake Conference.

You will want to arrive at the Venn Center approximately 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment.

Important: Payment Information

You will be billed for your Intake Conference. If you choose to pay out-of-pocket for Venn Services, we respect your preference to do so. After each session you will be expected to pay for services rendered. You will either receive a statement immediately, or within 2-3 days, that you can file for insurance reimbursement, if you so choose.

To be clear and for your information, the Venn Center does not take insurance directly. However, your sessions at the Venn Center can qualify as out-of-network services.

Step 3: The Intake Conference

The Intake Conference is considered your first “session” or treatment. This in-person meeting between you and a Venn Clinician is scheduled via phone during your Initial Consultation (step 2).

There is a specific purpose to the Intake Conference: the clinician’s goal is to understand the issue or problem you have come to discuss. What you want help with is referred to as your “presenting problem.” To understand this issue that confronts you, your clinician may ask something to the effect: “what brings you here today?” Before your session you might ask yourself, what is it that I want help with?

The clinician will help you explore your presenting problem. The clinician wants to understand your “real life” problem to better determine how the problem is affecting your mental health? Translating a real-world issue into mental health framework is necessary, this allows the clinician to think about the best options for helping you by linking your specific issue to the most effective treatments for your unique situation.

At the conclusion of your Intake Conference, your clinician will discuss next steps with you. Your clinician may want to get additional information about your presenting problem. In that case, the clinician will recommend assessments and a follow-up appointment.

When the clinician has decided that enough information has been gathered about your presenting problem, the clinician will make treatment recommendations to you. This may happen at the end of your Intake Conference, or after you have completed additional assessments. The clinician will present you with recommendations for treatments that will fit you best, that means, services that are most likely to be effective in helping you reduce the symptoms or distress that your problems are causing you. The Venn Center offers a wide-range of InterVenntions that work for a wide-variety of psychiatric problems and life issues. For some, consultation and education may be recommended.

If you choose to move ahead with your clinician’s recommendations, you and your clinician will establish goals for working together. These goals will comprise what is known as your “treatment plan.” The treatment plan will outline the work you plan to do at the Venn Center. The next step will be for you to schedule your next visit and move to step 5, Treatment, Programs, Consultations.

IMPORTANT: We want to help you avoid insurance problems if we can. Please see Step 2, Initial Consultation, for Payment Information including advice on contacting your insurance company prior to your Intake Conference.

Step 4: Assessment

After your Intake Conference, your clinician may recommend additional assessments before treatment options are discussed. In all cases, the Venn Clinician wants to make the most accurate determination of the problem that you are experiencing before treatment recommendations are made.

Three different types of VennAssessments are offered at the Venn Center: Mental Health Assessments, Neuropsychiatric Assessments, and Developmental Assessments. The clinician may also wish to collect information from sources outside of the Venn Center, perhaps from a pediatrician, a teacher, or your family records. At all times, it is your right to control any medical or personal information as you desire. Your privacy and the confidentiality of any services you may get at the Venn Center, as well as any other medical facility, are strictly covered under the HIPAA regulations.

Step 5: Treatment, Programs, Consultations

The Venn Center offers services through InterVenntions and VennEducation.

Depending on your goals and the treatment recommendations of your clinician, you may begin therapy at the Venn Center, we offer individual, couples, family, and group therapy. You may also receive a medication evaluation and/or medication management with our Executive Medical Director, Dr. Steven Wruble. Or your treatment plan may involve cutting-edge, specialized programs or therapies such as COGMED or EMDR.

Step 6: Evaluation & Next Steps

When you establish your treatment plan you will learn that a mid-treatment evaluation is scheduled, as well as an evaluation at the end of your treatment schedule. The work you do at the Venn Center should be effective—enough said. We need to check-in with you periodically to know that we are helping you progress on the pathway you have planned for yourself.

Evaluations do not indicate an end to treatment. Rather, an evaluation is a “check-in,” it gives us a moment to evaluate and discover whether we need to change course or keep going with our original plan.

Perhaps most importantly, we integrate periodic evaluations to give you a chance to tell us what is working and what is not working for you. Your feelings about the work you are doing at the Venn Center are essential to helping you. Please ask for an evaluation any time you are having concerns or want a better understanding of the process.